blogwatch
25 Nov 2008
Mercenaries Versus Pirates In Somalia
As security firm Blackwater moves into the counter-piracy business, in the blogs there's a feeling that the cure could be worse than the disease
Pirates are threatening global capitalism on the high seas. In addition to hijacking the Saudi supertanker Sirius Star, Somali pirates have captured more than 90 vessels in the past month. This includes the Ukrainian ship, MV Faina — laden with 33 Russian battle tanks — a Thai fishing boat, a Korean freighter and others.While a number of states have a navy presence off the Somali coast, including an undisclosed number of US ships, the US Navy says it's "overburdened, and that private companies must ensure their own security".
Enter Blackwater. In recent days, 66 shipping and merchant companies have contacted Blackwater for help in protecting vessels.
The well known private security firm has been sending out some mixed messages lately. In July of this year Associated Press reported that Blackwater's CEO Erik Prince had told the press that the contractor would be leaving the world of private security because it put "their entire business at risk" and would be looking to move into other sectors, including (would you believe) humanitarian aid.
Blackwater later clarified that Prince was not talking broadly about security contracting, but specifically about their presence in Iraq — which Blackwater would be scaling down as they look to diversify and pursue new opportunities.
Blackwater is the biggest private security contractor in Iraq, and has copped a lot of criticism over the years, most especially for killing 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad's Nisoor Square in September 2007.
The former Special Forces operatives who run Blackwater have sought new opportunities for the firm in conflict zones with much lower profiles than Iraq. So Africa seems perfect — indeed, like the other big security firms, the company is already engaged in providing security and training to a range of governments on that continent.
Such is the diversification of Blackwater's client base, that according to the counterpunch blog, "Actress and Darfur activist Mia Farrow recently met with the corporation's owner, Erik Prince, to discuss using the company in a military role in the western Sudan."
If it's true and Farrow's prepared to front the cash, she could soon find herself riding shotgun on a helicopter joyflight in a Blackwater "Little Bird" chopper, like these fun-loving guys.
Counterpunch notes that mercenary outfits are all over Africa again:
"MPRI is training militaries in Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda and Senegal. DynCorp is doing the same in Darfur and Somalia. While the cover story is fighting terrorism and ensuring stability, US military intervention — direct and through mercenaries and its client state, Ethiopia — has thoroughly destabilised Somalia, creating a crisis that rivals Darfur.
The US's training of foreign fighters has come back to bite it in the past, and the US Department of Defence has given some attention to the question of what this training could do for stability in the region.
A US Army Strategic Studies Institute study into DynCorp's training of the Liberian Armed Forces found that US-trained soldiers were at the core of "[every] armed group that plundered Liberia over the past 25 years".
So mercenaries are back in Africa in a big way. Up in the Gulf of Aden, it would seem there are plenty of people willing to pay for security, with insurance premiums soaring for shipping companies and governments of relatively wealthy trading nations keen to stabilise the area.
Bloomberg reported that in the first nine months of this year pirate attacks increased 500 per cent and 51 boardings were attempted. Of course NATO has sent seven warships to attempt to stem the problem, but it's a huge area, the rules of engagement for dealing with pirates are sketchy and the bureaucratic cogs turn slowly.
In October, "gcaptain", a blog for mariners, reported that Blackwater is moving into naval operations.
"The private military organisation known as either a private security firm or a mercenary organisation (depending on your political beliefs) has sent its 183-ft M/V McArthur to the Gulf of Aden, off Somalia, to combat pirates."
"[Blackwater] has tentative plans to build a small fleet of two or three anti-piracy vessels, each able to carry several dozen armed security personnel, according to reports in Lloyds List Maritime."
Forbes reported that, "Although the Blackwater vessels will not be armed, the crew will be. Unlike official military personnel, they may have fewer qualms about using those arms against pirates."
The announcement received some support from the blogosphere, such as this post from "Thinker" on Dangerzone, "Let Blackwater have their way and sort the pirates out."
The ships will also have helipads capable of launching attack helicopters similar to those Blackwater has frequently used in Iraq which can be seen in these videos.
Meanwhile, the Huffington Post notes that the economic windfall for pirates in war ravaged Somalia has been significant:
"Somalia's increasingly brazen pirates are building sprawling stone houses, cruising in luxury cars, marrying beautiful women, even hiring caterers to prepare Western-style food for their hostages.
"Northern coastal towns like Harardhere, Eyl and Bossaso, the pirate economy is thriving thanks to the money pouring in from pirate ransoms that have reached $30 million this year alone. 'There are more shops and business is booming because of the piracy,' said Sugule Dahir, who runs a clothing shop in Eyl. 'Internet cafes and telephone shops have opened, and people are just happier than before.' In Harardhere, residents came out in droves to celebrate as the looming oil ship came into focus this week off the country's lawless coast."
(The poverty and boom of the pirate towns has been captured beautifully by Guardian photographer Veronique de Viguerie.)
Governments and corporations paying private contractors to fight Somali pirates is not a new phenomenon. In 2005 — back when there still was a Somali Government — an approach was made to hire the US firm Top Cat Marine. The proposed fee was US$50 million, but the deal fell through, according to blogger Noah Shachtman, because the company was deemed too "shady".
In the current climate, it's surprising that mercenaries could lose a tender because they have a governance problem.
One factor working against the use of mercenaries is the reluctance of some shipping companies to fight the pirates. Commenting on the Agonist "canuck" says, "If I were an owner of a large shipping company, I would not be employing tactics that escalate violence, endanger the crew or the cargo it's carrying."
Companies are looking at non-violent ways to lessen the chances of their vessels being captured, like simply going faster to increase the force of the wash around their hulls.
Uneasy about the role of mercenaries, blogs like Opinio Juris have been very interested in the approach taken by UK security firm Eos, which puts unarmed staff on ships. They quote its director David Johnson: "[If ] you have guns onboard, you are going to escalate the situation. We don't want to turn that part of the world into the Wild West." The article continues:
"Johnson's employees don't carry arms, relying on tactics that can be as simple as greasing or electrifying hand rails, putting barbed wire around the freeboard — the lowest area of the deck — or installing high-pressure fire hoses directed at vulnerable areas of a ship.
"High-tech but non-lethal weapons include dazzle guns, which produce disorienting flashes; microwave guns, which heat up the skin causing discomfort but no long-term damage; and acoustic devices that can blast a wave of painful sound across hundreds of yards.
"Johnson believes his company's refusal to carry guns has helped attract business: inquiries have gone up three- to fourfold in the past few months.
At a minimum, the legal issues surrounding private security for shipping need to be resolved before Blackwater and the other US companies get anywhere near the pirates. The last thing we need is a Nisoor Square at sea."
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Perhaps the Americans and everything even vaguely America should just stay out of the whole area. Send their ships around the long way and leave that area to the Indians or whoever else wants to police it.
This has to got to be the most well researched article on this matter, anywhere on the web or otherwise.
Saw Tony Jones, a few nights back interview, an english analyst on this very matter, and that interview was threadbare to say the least. Was amazed that he did even canvass the Black Water angle.
Bottom feeders like blackwater tend to operate best in environs where there is buggerall judicial oversight. This is slowly changing in Irag Hence their exit strategy rapidly
Great Stuff. Keep it coming.
Beautifully researched editorial. Blackwater appears to have been built on all the failed and previous attempts of the CIA and the US government to set up shop in an area where the outcome is directly advantageous to American interests. Oil, coffee, oil, mineral wealth, oil, airlines, health, spices, oil, travel, espionage, oil, air conditioning, anything that can be bent, warped, crooked or cooked, you name it-up to and including the poppy fields of Souuth East Asia. A tiny list would include Central America, Brazil, Colombia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Burma (Myanmar) and if we Australians are not careful they will encroach even further into the orbit of OZ. Blackwater differs from, let’s say The Tiger Chennault operation in East Asia. Good old Flying Tigers. Small, sleek planes, black always black, seemed to be on the outskirts of major passenger loading areas of international airports. Operating out of Bangkok and all points east, The Flying Tiger airline was purely and simply a CIA operation, but not all that profitable, which, as legend has it, saw the CIA moving into, shall we say, a fresh injection of capital accruing from Phnom Phen, Chongquin, Hanoi, Saigon, Luang Prabang, Vientiane, et al. Who better than the CIA to build on the failures of the past in order to profit from the present?
Blackwater, black planes, black arts, the CIA and the US government has the best seat in the house. Believe me.
Once again, congratulations on an excellent article/editorial.
PS: I’m talking WWII and all the Asian wars since then. I don’t know if they are still operating. If they are they will have changed the name.
V.
yeah, a nice piece, but there are two more general things to consider. First, the pirates flourish because there is no effective govt in Somalia. The only time they were at least slightly controlled was when the Islamic Courts folks were in charge - a mixed blessing huh? ON the one hand extreme Islamic law, on the other piracy maybe reduced. And second, as has been widely reported fishing stocks off the Somali coast have been wiped out by foreign trawlers, leaving the traditional fishers with no livlihood, so they turn to piracy. Talk about coming back to bite you …
Michael
Michael,
I believe you’re absolutely right abut the fish, and this doesn’t excuse allowing a terrorist organisation to make commercial gain. If Blackwater isn’t proscribed, it should be.
On the issue of pirates I think the issue is resolved if the worlds governments looks at corruption in these african governments. If you weed out corruption there will be more funds for the voters in these countries and possibly more employment and this will get rid of the pirates and their desperate acts.
Thanks for your positive feedback on this weeks blogwatch.
BBC Online is reporting that the Indian Navy’s declaration that they had destroyed a ‘pirate mothership’ may in fact have been a Thai fishing boat:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7749245.stm
Meanwhile Russia is reportedly planning to use their forces, including Russian commandoes to overthrow pirates detaining ships. Strategy Pages is agreeably concerned with this development stating,
"This could cause diplomatic problems with the other nations providing warships for counter-piracy operations off the Somali coast. That’s because the current ships have, so far, followed a policy of not attempting rescue operations (lest captive sailors get hurt) and not firing on pirates unless fired on first. Russia believes this approach only encourages the pirates."
http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htseamo/articles/20081125.aspx
Also to add to Michael’s comments regarding fishing stocks off the Somali coast, SMH Online published this article "Fishing fleets are pirates, too" on 24 November:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/fishing-fleets-are-pirates-too/2008/11/…
Cheers
Rod McGuinness
Managing Editor
newmatilda.com
This is the best treatment I’ve read as well. Michael, on the UIC, I don’t claim to be an expert but I read that despite their name they were quite a broad-based movement that included Christians, moderate Muslims and the non-religious. The intervention in Somalia is clearly driven by imperial interests, but those useful idiots who go along for ‘humanitarian intervention’ reasons need to realise that, like in Iraq and Afghanistan, no matter how bad the government seems, it’s indigenous and any attempt to replace it with something from outside (especially when aided by a mortal enemy such as, in this case, Ethiopia) will result in something worse.
philannetta.blogspot.com